Aftermath
by MistressMacha
Summary: An investigation goes wrong and Elliot is targeted by the defence.  At the same time he is trying to deal with the lasting consequences of past actions on both his life and his relationship with Olivia, who has had to deal with the aftermath alone.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

_The man held a gun in his hand, pointing it straight at them. Olivia cursed herself, knowing it was all her fault. Beside her, Elliot had his gun trained on the man._

_Suddenly the man broke into a smile and lowered his gun. 'Laura?'_

_Olivia felt a chill. 'No, I'm Olivia...'_

_He ignored her. 'Laura!' He ran towards her. 'Laura!'_

_Elliot shot him._

'The defence has decided to go with the idea that you two somehow planted the evidence recovered from the house,' explained Alex. 'It's nonsense, but he's going to try and discredit both of you. Elliot, you're going to have to justify the use of force.'

Elliot sat up. 'But-'

'Elliot, I don't need to know how justified it was. But you do need to be able to show the jury that you were right to take the shot. You two weren't the primary detectives on this case, so you won't have to testify much on the investigation, only on the reasons for going to the house that day and for what happened there. Do you understand?'

They nodded.

'Most of all, you need to be able to present a united front. Your stories must support each other. Any gaps or weaknesses will be exploited. Olivia, I know you have other things on your mind right now, but it is crucial that you're completely on the ball for this one. MacBride is good, and he knows how to make you undermine each other.'

'Detective Benson, would you explain to the court how your unit identified the defendant as a suspect?'

Olivia swallowed nervously. 'Well, we looked into some of the details given by witnesses, and it led us to-'

McBride held up a hand to stop her, and fixed her in a stern glare. 'No, Detective, start from the beginning.'

_'What've we got here?' asked Elliot, climbing out of the car._

_'Young female, early twenties, broken neck and abrasions to the face and body,' replied Fin. 'Warner's preparing to take her to the lab now.'_

_The girl lay on her back in the middle of the pavement, her clothes torn and her bag beside her._

_'Not a robbery,' observed Olivia, looking through the bag. 'Her phone, wallet, credit cards are all still here.'_

_'Maybe the guy got scared off by someone,' suggested Elliot._

_'The street was full of people when it happened,' said Fin. 'If he'd get spooked by a witness, he'd have picked somewhere more secluded.'_

_Olivia abruptly stood, turned and walked further down the street. She leant against the wall, breathing heavily and brushing her fringe off her forehead._

_'What's up with her?' asked Fin._

_'God knows,' replied Elliot. 'She's been in a weird mood all day. Did the witnesses have anything to say?'_

_'The usual contradictory descriptions,' said Fin, 'but apparently he saw this girl and just grabbed her, she tried to fight him off and then suddenly she was dead on the street and he was running.'_

_'And no one tried to follow him?'_

_'They all figured someone else would do it,' said Fin, rolling his eyes. 'Old lady down there had something interesting to say, though. Apparently the guy was yelling 'Laura, Laura!' over and over again._

_'Ex-boyfriend?' suggested Elliot. 'It's pretty intimate, killing by breaking someone's neck like that. Suggests some kind of connection between them before the attack.'_

_'The girl's name is Christine,' said Olivia, kneeling beside her and looking through her wallet. 'No Lauras on her IDs or cards.' She moved aside to allow the techs to move the body._

_'Wait, Liv, do you remember a similar case like this over on 3rd last month?' asked Elliot. 'That girl from Manhattan Tech?'_

_'There was no mention of any Laura, though,' objected Olivia. _

_'Doesn't mean anything, it was a busy street, easy to miss something like that in the noise and chaos,' said Fin. 'I'll go check out if there are any similar cases.'_

_Olivia opened her mouth to say something, then glanced over at the techs. The girl's head lolled as they moved her into the bag. Olivia gagged, ran into the nearby alley and threw up._

_'Come on, Liv, ought to be used to this by now,' Fin teased. _

_She smiled weakly. 'I know, right?'_

_'Liv's a bit of a sensitive soul,' said Elliot, cracking a smile. 'Fin, you're the primary on this, go with Warner and start from there. Me and Liv will go back to the precinct and start looking into possible connections.' He smiled. 'Throw up in my car, Benson, and there'll be hell to pay.'_

_'Ha ha,' said Olivia sarcastically, climbing into the passenger seat. 'I feel fine now, thanks for your concern.'_

'And what happened once you got back to the precinct with Detective Stabler?'

'We looked for other cases, and turned up seven more. All brunette females, early twenties, seemingly attacked at random in the street.'

MacBride smiled at her. 'But there's nothing to conclusively connect my client to these crimes, is there?'

'At least two other witnesses recalled hearing someone shouting 'Laura, Laura!' replied Olivia. 'Then, we identified a girl who had been attacked, but had survived. Her boyfriend was due to meet her and had been waiting further up the street. He saw the attack and intervened, but not before the girl suffered a broken collarbone and fractured ribs.'

'And what did that tell you?'

'She scratched him,' replied Olivia. 'She had his skin under her nails. We compared it to a saliva smear on the chin of Christine Langton. It was a match. The girl who survived was able to give us a detailed description of the suspect, and told us that she remembered him screaming 'Laura, Laura!' at her insistently, even after she repeated that that was not her name and that he was mistaken. Then we ran the DNA, and it brought up the name of one Matthew Moloney, who had been arrested the week before on charges of breaking and entering, and released on bail. We showed the picture to the girl. She identified him.'

'But that isn't exactly conclusive,' said MacBride. 'She had been severely injured, traumatised. Who knows how much she could really remember?'

'Objection!' shouted Alex, jumping to her feet.

'Withdrawn,' said MacBride. 'But Detective, remind me again when exactly you received the full DNA results on the saliva taken from Christine Langton?'

'Approximately one week after the attack,' replied Olivia.

'But wasn't that after you had decided to arrest my client, had in fact entered his house and entered into a confrontation resulting in his serious injury and near death?'

'Yes,' conceded Olivia, 'but we had more than enough evidence without the DNA-'

'Thank you, Detective, that's enough,' interrupted MacBride.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

'Detective Stabler, can you tell us exactly what happened when you arrived at Mr Moloney's house?' asked MacBride.

'We knocked several times and identified ourselves as detectives,' replied Elliot. 'There was no reply. We had no reason to believe the defendant was home at the time; the house was dilapidated and the curtains closed.'

'Is it a crime to be a poor housekeeper, Detective?'

'No,' replied Elliot, gritting his teeth. 'But the whole house was locked up tight. Everything pointed to it being empty at the time we gained entry.'

'And what happened after you-' MacBride snickered slightly, '-after you 'gained entry' to the house?'

_'You hear anything, El?' hissed Olivia as they crept along the hallway, guns drawn._

_'Not yet, Liv,' he whispered back. They did a quick sweep of the ground floor and found nothing, and moved back to the hallway._

_'Check this out, El.' Olivia pointed to a stack of unopened letters maybe three feet tall wedged between a side table and the door. She picked one up. 'Addressed to a Laura Nicholls... there anyone under that name at this address?'_

_'Nope, only a Matthew Moloney listed. Maybe she's our Laura.'_

_'Maybe she's also the girl in the pictures.' Every surface and wall was covered in photographs of a smiling girl with short brown hair in various scenes and poses. 'Moloney's not in any of these... do you think he's some kind of stalker?'_

_'Maybe... OK Liv, I don't think Moloney's here. You cover me, I'll check out the basement,' hissed Elliot, pushing open the door and flicking on the bare lightbulb. He crept down the stairs slowly and carefully, his eyes scanning the room. Olivia felt her phone vibrate._

_'Benson?... Yeah?... Yeah, that helps, thanks.' She snapped her phone shut. 'Elliot, that was Fin-'_

_Olivia took a step down the staircase after him, then suddenly felt her arm wrenched backwards and the gun pulled from her hand. 'El!' She felt a shove in the small of her back and fell forwards down the stairs, reaching her arms out to try to grab something, anything to break her fall. Her left wrist caught a riser and she felt it snap, and then she hit the floor with a thud. _

_'Liv!' Elliot looked up the steps and saw a man with a gun start down. Elliot held his gun up, aiming it at the man, and rushed forward to pull Olivia away from the foot of the stairs. 'Detective Elliot Stabler, NYPD, drop the weapon, Sir!'_

_Matthew Moloney narrowed his eyes at them. 'Why are you in my house?'_

_'We need to speak with you regarding the murder of Christine Langton yesterday morning,' Elliot told him. 'Stay where you are and drop the weapon.'_

_Olivia scrambled to her feet, clutching her wrist. 'My gun, El, he has my gun-'_

_'SHUT UP!' yelled Moloney. He stopped, blocking the foot of the stairs. 'Why are you in my house? What have you done with Laura?'_

_'Who is Laura, Mr Moloney?' asked Olivia calmly._

_'You took her! Where is she?'_

_'Mr Moloney, we don't have Laura. Laura is dead,' said Olivia. 'You know that. You were there.'_

_Moloney shook his head. 'No, no, you're wrong.'_

_'Put the weapon down, Mr Moloney,' repeated Elliot. 'No one needs to get hurt here.'_

_'No! I'm not doing anything until you tell me what you've done with Laura!'_

'For the record, Detective Stabler, explain to the jury who this Laura is,' said MacBride.

Elliot took a deep breath. 'Laura Nicholls was Mr Moloney's long-term girlfriend. She died in a four-car pile-up on the Taconic State Parkway in Dutchess County outside of Stanford, back in 2002. All of the women... he appears to have thought they were Laura, and then when they attempted to fight him off, killed them out of sheer rage at what he perceived to be their rejection of him.'

'And what did you say to him?'

'I told him we hadn't done anything with Laura, that Laura was dead,' replied Elliot. 'He refused to believe us. He kept us down there for several hours, insisting we knew where she was and threatening us if we didn't tell him.'

'But you at no point during these several hours, during which he supposedly held a gun on you at all times, felt the need to fire your weapon?'

Elliot shifted uncomfortably. 'No, I did not.'

'And why was that, Detective?'

'I felt it was still possible to talk him into surrendering to us. From my experience, I judged him to be worth attempting to reason with before resorting to force.'

MacBride feigned thought. 'Detective, is it true that Mr Moloney was known as the 'local weirdo' in Glen Oaks?'

'Only one of many,' said Elliot.

'And Detective, since you too live in Glen Oaks, Queens, surely you knew of Mr Moloney before the incident?'

'I did not,' replied Elliot. 'My family live there but I spend little time at home. I was unaware of Mr Moloney's existence before his name came up as a part of this investigation.'

'So you are aware, Detective Stabler, it's not a crime to be the local weirdo.'

'Oddly enough, yes, I am,' said Elliot. 'If it were, we'd have to convert every other Manhattan apartment block into a prison.'

'So Mr Moloney wasn't just a convenient oddball to pin these crimes on and save you some time?'

'I don't know what exactly you're trying to say, Mr MacBride.' Elliot knew exactly what that son of a bitch of a lawyer was implying, and was working hard to suppress his anger.

'Detective, what I would suggest is that perhaps your personal knowledge of my client led you to his house, and that maybe you were not trapped in that basement as long as you say, and that perhaps you used the time alone in the house to illegally search for and/or plant the evidence cited by the state?'

'Objection!' shouted Alex again.

'Withdrawn,' conceded MacBride with a satisfied smile.

_**A/N: So... what do you think so far? I seem to have got that formatting problem sorted out anyway... so hopefully that will help! EDIT: Except I haven't. Darn. Apologies.  
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	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

'Detective Benson, would you mind explaining to the court exactly what happened following the shooting?'

'We immediately checked Moloney for a pulse, then my partner radioed for an ambulance. He was breathing, so I put him into the recovery position and waited for the medics.'

'And what about you, Detective?' asked MacBride.

'I suffered a fractured wrist and went to the hospital with the defendant in order to get it checked over and set.'

'Leaving your partner alone in the house?'

'No. He remained outside to wait for the CSU techs and to secure the scene. He asked a couple of uniform to accompany the defendant and myself to the hospital,' replied Olivia.

'So, making sure he would be alone.'

Olivia hated MacBride and that smug look on his stupid face. 'No.'

'And when did you see Detective Stabler again, Detective Benson?'

'Back at the precinct that evening, filling out paperwork.'

_Olivia walked into the locker room and sat down beside Elliot. 'El-'_

_'IAB are really riding my ass on this one, Liv,' said Elliot bitterly. 'They keep asking, was he armed, why did we not find a third weapon anywhere in the house.'_

_'Because he took mine, I told them,' said Olivia._

_'But you picked it up and moved it after I shot him.' Elliot stared coldly at her. 'They want to know why there's only your fingerprints on it. They're implying I shot him unjustly and that now we're rigging the scene to cover up a bad shooting.'_

_'Look, El, IAB are assholes, and they'll always be assholes,' said Olivia. 'I promise it'll be all right, El. I've to finish testifying to them tomorrow, and I'll make sure they know exactly what happened.'_

_'What are you going to tell them?'_

_'What?'_

_'I said, Liv, what are you going to tell them?' _

_Olivia was nervous. There was a tone in Elliot's voice she hadn't heard before, and it made her uneasy. 'I'll tell them the truth El... that he had the gun, he ran at me, you acted to protect your partner.'_

_Elliot looked her in the eye. 'Don't tell them he lowered the gun.'_

_Olivia's jaw dropped. 'El, I'm not going to lie-'_

_'Look, Olivia, the guy is in a coma and no one knows if he'll wake up,' snapped Elliot. 'He's a murderer. He kills innocent girls, Olivia. He's going down for life anyway. It doesn't make any difference what IAB think of him, but if you tell them he lowered the gun, it sounds even worse for me.'_

_'No, El, they'll understand-'_

_'No, Olivia, they won't. All they'll hear is, he had lowered the weapon, which is incidentally the same weapon they don't really believe he ever had thanks to you, and that'll be it, I'm out of the NYPD and probably up on criminal charges as well.'_

_Olivia felt sick. This was not how this was supposed to go. 'El-'_

_'Olivia, this is your damn fault, and you have to fix it.'_

_'Elliot, this is not my fault!' protested Olivia. 'That's not fair!'_

_'You let Moloney take your gun. You let him sneak up on you. You broke your fucking wrist so I had to take extra care of you because you wouldn't have been able to fight off the bastard on your own. Why do I always have to be there to hold your fucking hand, Olivia?'_

_Olivia began to cry. 'El, I'm sorry-'_

_'And then, if that wasn't enough, you moved the fucking gun! You touched it without gloves and without taking any kind of care! Now they have your gun, with your fingerprints, and me telling them that it was Moloney who had it. It's a real great situation to be in, Liv.' Elliot kicked the locker opposite him and put a large dent in it. 'God damn it!'_

_'I'm sorry, El... I was distracted,' said Olivia awkwardly. 'El, at the hospital-'_

_'What, you got more bad news for me?' snapped Elliot._

_'Well, I don't know exactly,' said Olivia._

_'What do you mean you don't fucking know?'_

_Olivia swallowed. 'El, I'm pregnant.'_

_Elliot looked horrified. Olivia felt her stomach turn over._

_'That's not funny, Olivia,' said Elliot. His voice had become very quiet._

_'It's not a joke, Elliot,' Olivia told him. 'Before the X-ray... for my wrist... the nurse asked could I be... had I in the past couple of months... and I said yes, so...'_

_'What? Once, in the on-call room, after one too many at Warner's birthday? That doesn't count!'_

_'Well, clearly it does, Elliot, because she did the test and it came up positive, and there's no one else it could possibly be.'_

_He looked at her. 'Says you.'_

_Olivia felt like he'd hit her. 'What the hell is that meant to mean?'_

_'It's meant to mean, Liv, that you've never made it much of a secret how much you want to have kids. What happened, you have a one-off with some poor unsuspecting guy and now you're scared you can't do it on your own?'_

_'Fuck you, Elliot!' Olivia slapped him hard. 'I can do this with or without you. Go on, fuck off back to Queens. Say hi to Kathy for me.' She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the precinct._

'What did you do at the precinct, Detective? Did you have to spend time getting your stories straight?' MacBride saw her discomfort and pounced.

'Objection!' yelled Alex again.

Judge Mendell looked down his nose at MacBride. 'Watch yourself, counsellor.'

'Detective,' said MacBride, 'Records show you spent three hours inside the building that night. If you were not talking about the case, what exactly did you discuss during the time you spent alone at the precinct with Detective Stabler?'

'Personal matters,' replied Olivia.

MacBride's eyes narrowed. 'Can you be more specific?'

'It was over six months ago, and I'm afraid I can't recall the details,' said Olivia. She hated lying.

'That's convenient,' said MacBride. Alex leapt to her feet again. 'It's OK, Miss Cabot, you can save your voice, I'm done.'

_**A/N: Thanks for all your support on my other story, guys, I have another chapter written and almost ready to go****!**** Also, I'm sorry about the formatting. I've really no idea what's going on there. For now I'll stick with the regular/italicised fonts to differentiate.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

'Detective Benson, would it be fair to say that perhaps your close relationship with your partner could have affected your views on what happened at the Moloney house?' MacBride was definitely warming to his theme.

'Ex-partner.'

'Excuse me, Detective?'

'He's my ex-partner,' said Olivia.

'But Detective, I have it on good authority that you were close, perhaps unusually close?' Olivia could see MacBride gloating and wanted to smash his head against the edge of the witness box.

'We were,' she said finally. 'But not any more.'

_'Hey, Fin. Hey, Fatty.' Munch was his usual charming self this morning. Olivia chose to ignore him and carried on carefully rearranging the pencils on her desk. 'Hey, Liv, I'm just kidding. How are you?'_

_'I'm fine.' Olivia smiled. 'I had my 20-week scan this morning. Everything's great.' She laughed. 'I'm pretty sure the nurse thought Alex and I were lesbian life partners.'_

_Munch looked up, suddenly fascinated. 'Really?'_

_'Yes, John, really.' Olivia rolled her eyes. 'Anyway, I asked for some copies of the scan pictures to show you, but I think Alex is probably still weeping over them in the bathroom.'_

_'Don't worry, they all just look like big Rorschach inkblots to me anyway.' Munch perked up again. 'You know, Olivia, modern sonograms are becoming another way for the government to start collecting information on us even before we're born-'_

_'Oy, Munch, shut the fuck up,' interrupted Fin._

_Olivia smiled again. 'Thanks, Fin. Has anyone seen Elliot?'_

_'He's out checking out something about the Union Square guy with Jeffries,' said Cragen. 'I'm sure he'll be back soon, though.'_

_'Did you hear he left Kathy?' Munch said casually._

_'He did?' Olivia didn't like how hopeful that had sounded._

_'Yeah, walked out a few nights ago and moved into some dive in Brooklyn Heights. Guess things just weren't working for them.'_

_'I guess not,' said Olivia._

_'By the way, Liv, you get whoever it was got you up the spout to help out any yet?' asked Munch. He raised an eyebrow at Fin, who shook his head and glared warningly at his partner._

_'No,' said Olivia briskly. 'No, and I don't want him to.' She stood up. 'I'm going to go see if Alex is done brooding yet.' The whole squadroom looked at each other in silence as she left the room and walked down the corridor to the bathroom._

_'Alex?' Olivia knocked and went into the bathroom. Alex was in front of the mirror re-applying her mascara._

_'Waterproof my arse,' she said, pulling the weird mascara-face in the mirror. 'How'd it go, Liv?'_

_'He's not there,' replied Olivia. 'He's out in Union Square with Jeffries.' She sighed. 'I'll just track him down later.'_

_'Well, that just gives us more time to prepare.' Alex finished her final coat of mascara. 'Now you just can't make me cry again. Take these back.' She handed Olivia the black and white sonogram images. 'How are things with you guys now?'_

_Olivia sighed again. 'Still weird. We barely spoke for weeks after I told him, and now he's working with Queens SVU so often, it's not like we run into each other that much.'_

_'Well, maybe that's better. Now people don't whisper about why he suddenly asked to be reassigned.'_

_'Oh no, they do,' said Olivia, 'It's just that now no one notices, because I ignore it and don't throw massive sulks.'_

_Alex laughed. 'Yeah, he is good at that. Fingers crossed the kid gets your temperament, Liv, or else I'd start saving for boarding school now.'_

_'Ha ha, yeah.' Olivia started picking at her fingernails. 'Alex, he left Kathy.'_

_'Oh? Did he tell you that?'_

_'No... no, Munch did.'_

_'OK.' Alex hopped up and sat on the edge of the bathroom countertop. 'What does that mean?'_

_'I don't know... I mean, things had been going that way for a long time, so it's not like I feel, you know, guilty or anything-'_

_'Yes you do,' interrupted Alex. 'You shouldn't, but you do.'_

_Olivia glared at her. 'OK, so maybe I do. But he hasn't called me, Alex.' She suddenly felt like she was about to burst into tears. Shit. 'I had to find out from goddamned Munch, of all people, that he's left Kathy and moved into some... some... some SLUM in Brooklyn Heights... I don't know, Alex. I just thought... hoped... that maybe he would call me and tell me himself. I don't think that's too much to want.'_

_Alex smiled sympathetically. 'I don't think so either, Liv, and I don't know why he's acting like this.'_

_'No... oh well. Maybe there's something to that whole lesbian life partners idea.'_

_Alex laughed, hopped back off the countertop and hugged her. 'Any woman would be lucky to have you, Liv, but I'm not sure that's a good short term solution.' She paused and thought about it. 'Maybe keep it as plan b.'_

_Olivia wiped the back of her sleeve across her eyes. 'You know what, Alex, I think I'll just leave it. He doesn't want to know.'_

_'Oh, come on, Liv-'_

_'Why should I?' Olivia was tired of all this crap. It wasn't that she hadn't ever thought what it might be like to have a baby, with Elliot even, but she hadn't thought it would be like this._

_'Come on, he's being an ass right now but he loves you, Liv, you know he does, he just has to be a stupid man about it for a bit.'_

_'No. He made it clear he didn't want anything to do with it.' Olivia reached into her bag and pulled out Elliot's copies of the pictures. 'Here, you can have these. Start practicing the life lessons you're going to give your goddaughter. Starting with, don't sleep with your colleagues.'_

'So, you haven't talked about the case at all in the past few months?' asked MacBride. 'Not even once? Just to check details, maybe compare notes?'

'Not even once,' said Olivia. 'Since he was reassigned to work with Detective Jeffries, we don't really see each other.'

'But weren't you two meant to be practically inseparable?' MacBride pointedly eyed her stomach.

Olivia thought MacBride was really enjoying this. That bastard.

'We worked together,' she said. 'That's it.'

**_A/N: Thanks for the great response on the last chapter everyone, hope you liked this one!_**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

'Detective, we've heard Detective Stabler's version of events for what happened inside the Moloney house, and now I'd like to go over yours.'

Olivia drew herself up to her full height and stared MacBride in the eye. 'OK.'

'How did you and your partner come to go into the basement of the house?'

'We did a sweep of the ground floor. We found no sign of the defendant. Detective Stabler felt it would be wise to check the basement.'

'And how would you normally go about this?'

Olivia swallowed. 'Normally, one of us would go first and one would... cover the other. To prevent the suspect taking us by surprise.'

'And what happened, Detective?'

Olivia shifted uncomfortably. 'He took me by surprise. He pushed me. I fell and broke my wrist. Detective Stabler helped me up and warned the defendant to drop his weapon. He did not.'

'And what weapon was this, Detective? As far as I know only you and Detective Stabler's guns were ever accounted for.'

'Moloney took my gun from me when he pushed me,' said Olivia.

'How did he do that? Surely an experienced detective like yourself-'

'I wasn't feeling well that day,' interrupted Olivia. 'I got distracted and he took advantage.'

'So he took your gun, and somehow managed to leave only your fingerprints on it?'

Olivia looked down. 'I moved it.'

'Could you say that a little louder, Detective?'

'I moved it,' repeated Olivia. 'Detective Stabler shot the suspect, and in the heat of the moment I picked up the gun before I realised what I was doing.'

'Detective Benson, that's one hell of a mistake to make for such an experienced officer.'

'I know.' Olivia looked down again. 'I know it was.'

'Detective, is it conceivable you could have made other errors during the investigation?'

Olivia looked up in surprise. 'Sorry, I don't follow.'

'The DNA from Christine Langton. The items taken from Mr Moloney's home. Is it possible that, somehow, at some point, the two came into contact?'

'There was no way any evidence got contaminated if that's what you're trying to say,' snapped Olivia.

'But the DNA didn't come back until well after my client had been attacked and his home processed. And it has been months since the incident took place.'

_'Hey Elliot, you hear about Liv's scan?' Munch called from his corner of the room. _

_Elliot stopped typing and clenched his fists. 'No, I didn't.'_

_'Oh. Well, she's having a little girl. Figured you might, you know, want to know?'_

_'A girl?' asked Elliot slowly. 'Really?'_

_'Yup, she said everything was fine too.' Munch smiled. Elliot was impressed. It was the first time he'd seen a Munch smile that wasn't vaguely creepy._

_'That's wonderful,' said Elliot. 'Uh, who'd she go with? Just out of interest.'_

_Munch shrugged. 'Alex, I think. I offered, but I think that Liv thought it might be awkward because of our sexual past.' Munch cackled and went back to writing out his report while the rest of the room somehow managed to suppress a shudder. _

_'I can never tell if he's joking,' hissed Fin._

_Elliot shuddered. 'Trust me, Fin, he's joking.' He stared at his computer screen but the letters stubbornly refused to make any sense. He sighed. Jeffries was going to tear him a new one over not getting this done. Again. Like she was so damned perfect. 'Actually, I think I'm going to go get some coffee. Anyone else want some?'_

_'No thanks, Elliot,' replied Fin. 'I still haven't forgotten the ice incident.'_

_Elliot suppressed a cringe and stood up quickly. The 'ice incident' had not been his proudest moment._

_He walked down the hall to the coffee machine, counting weeks in his head. 20, 21... 22 weeks? Something like that. He stopped. Olivia was sitting on the bench opposite the vending machines. Elliot was trying to figure if he should talk to her, or just run the other way, when she looked up and saw him. He smiled weakly. She looked pissed. He didn't blame her._

_'Elliot,' she said, politely but briskly._

_'Hey, Liv - Olivia,' said Elliot awkwardly. He wavered briefly, then sat down beside her. 'How are you?'_

_She looked pointedly down at her stomach, then back up at him. 'I'm fine. You?'_

_'I'm OK.' They sat in silence for a few minutes. 'Olivia?'_

_'Yes?'_

_'I'm sorry for asking you to lie to IAB for me. I shouldn't have done that. I was wrong.'_

_'Yes, you were,' said Olivia._

_'I know... and I'm sorry, Liv, I'm so sorry.'_

_Olivia smiled at him. 'Elliot Stabler apologising? I never thought I'd live to see the day.' She threw her head back and laughed, and suddenly Elliot realised how much he loved her. He mentally kicked himself._

_'Ah, good, I've found you.' Elliot and Olivia looked up to see Don Cragen standing there. 'The DA's office called, Moloney woke up from his coma and they need to meet with you to go over your roles in the case again.'_

_'He woke up?' said Olivia, glancing at Elliot. He had gone slightly pale._

_'Yes. Medical marvels these days.' Cragen rolled his eyes and headed off back to the squadroom._

_Olivia looked at Elliot. 'El...'_

_'I have to go get back to work, Olivia. Good luck with everything.' Elliot stood up and practically ran after Cragen, only realising once he'd been back at his desk for almost ten minutes that he'd forgotten to get any coffee. He glanced up and caught Fin and Munch exchanging a look. Elliot sighed. He didn't think it was possible to feel any more of an asshole than he did right now._

'There is no way,' said Olivia firmly, 'that any mistakes were made in the processing and handling of evidence.'

MacBride smiled. 'Filing mistakes do happen, Detective. Labelling errors, samples being misplaced or swapped...'

'That's not possible,' said Olivia.

'But Detective, you've made mistakes before. You made mistakes on the same investigation, in the same week even! Who's to say you, or someone else, didn't make another?'

Alex was on her feet again. 'Objection, your Honour, badgering the witness!'

'Sustained,' said Judge Mendell. 'Move on, counsellor.'

MacBride paused, considering his next move. 'Detective, you spent rather a long time in the Moloney house, did you not?'

'Yes,' replied Olivia. 'He held us in the basement for a number of hours, refusing to allow us to leave until we told him what we had done with Laura.'

'How did he do that? Oh, that's right, he took your gun.' MacBride smiled. 'Of course, you and your partner could equally have used the time setting up the scene and making sure the right pieces of evidence were found, isn't that right?'

Olivia gritted her teeth. 'No.'

'Detective, isn't it possible that your unit, embarrassed by the number of unsolved murders that had happened right under your noses, needed someone to blame and fast?'

'No.'

'And that since you weren't quite sure it was the defendant, you decided to kill him and then stage the scene to make it indisputable he was responsible?'

'No!'

'Only you made a mistake, you forgot to wipe your fingerprints.' MacBride smiled. 'That, and your partner somehow failed to kill Mr Moloney.'

'That's not true!' shouted Olivia. 'He had a gun, he ran at me, Elliot was trying to protect me-'

'So the defendant had a gun-'

'Yes!'

'-and he had it pointed right at you-'

'Yes!'

'-and then, holding it out, he charged you?' MacBride raised an eyebrow.

Olivia opened her mouth, closed it again. 'He ran at me.'

'Pointing the gun?'

'He had been pointing the gun at me.'

'But was he at the time Detective Stabler chose to shoot him?'

Olivia looked at Elliot. He looked tense, waiting for her to answer. She looked down and picked her fingernails. 'He lowered it.'

'I'm sorry, did you say that the defendant had lowered his gun at the time your partner shot him?'

Olivia nodded.

'Speak up, Detective.'

'Yes.'

MacBride grinned. Olivia glanced at Elliot. He had buried his face in his hands.

**_A/N: We're getting to the good bit soon..._**


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

'Detective Stabler, how would you describe your relationship with your former partner?'

Alex was on her feet again. 'Objection, relevance?'

'Trying to establish the reliability of the witness, your Honour,' said MacBride.

'I'll allow it,' said Judge Mendell, 'but make sure this goes somewhere soon, Mr MacBride.'

'Detective Stabler, answer the question. How would you describe your relationship with your former partner?'

Elliot shifted uncomfortably. 'OK.'

''OK?''

Elliot glared. 'Yes, OK.'

'Would you care to expand on that, Detective?'

'I mean, it's fine. We haven't really spoken much lately, but, you know, we've been working separately, and this job takes up so much of your time...'

'So, you've not been close recently?'

Elliot looked uncomfortable. 'I suppose not, no.'

_Elliot was walking between the elevators and the file room when he saw Alex bearing down on him. She looked pissed. There were few things that scared him more than Alex Cabot in a bad mood, particularly when he was pretty sure that he was responsible for said bad mood, and he quickly glanced both ways to try and see somewhere to maybe hide. In that moment she had him cornered against the chocolate machine. He braced himself._

_'Elliot, you son of a bitch, I've had quite enough of Liv having to deal with your selfish crap right now. You had better pull your head out of your ass and grow up,' snapped Alex. 'Olivia didn't mean for this to happen, and she certainly didn't fix it to trap you. I've been waiting and waiting for you to just get over it on your own but she's 30 weeks gone, Elliot, and you only have 10 weeks left to make this right, or you're going to miss this. I've been going with her to all her appointments and scans to the point that all the doctors think we're lesbian life partners! We joke about it, but I know she's really hurt. You should be there, Elliot, and if you miss this completely you will never forgive yourself.' She narrowed her eyes and glared at him over her glasses. 'And more to the point, I will never forgive you.'_

_'Alex, I already have five kids,' protested Elliot. He was terribly aware that as Alex got louder and more indignant, more people were casually leaning against the walls or hanging around to listen. The guy by the bulletin board was re-reading the memo on why not to pour coffee grounds down the kitchen sink for what must have been the hundredth time. _

_'What the hell does that have to do with anything?' shouted Alex. 'Now you're going to have one more, and Olivia certainly didn't magically create it on her own.' There was a mass intake of breath, and around him the eavesdroppers were pulling out their smartphones to spread the gossip. It was at times like this that Elliot especially hated social networking._

_'But Alex, it's Liv...' Elliot looked pleadingly at her. 'Look, Alex, could we maybe do this somewhere else, only this is a little-'_

_'Shut up.' Alex didn't have time for this crap. 'I know it's Liv, Elliot, and that makes it even worse. She heard that you and Kathy broke up, you know.'_

_'She did?' Elliot didn't know if this made things better or worse._

_'Yes, and she was really hurt that she didn't hear it from you. She's been your best friend for God knows how long and you've just ditched her over something that's not even her fault!'_

_'Alex... you don't understand. It's Liv. I miss her. Of course I want... but I've messed it up so bad already, and I can't do it any more.'_

_'Elliot, grow up.'_

_'No, it's that... when she told me, I freaked out, and I said some stupid stuff, and then I couldn't take it back. She couldn't hate me any more than she did after that, and I don't want to keep upsetting her.' Elliot sat down and rested his head in his hands._

_'That's the worst excuse I ever heard,' snapped Alex._

_'Alex, she said she could do this on her own, and I think that maybe that's better.'_

_'How is that better?'_

_'Because I won't be there to screw it up! You saw how unhappy I made Kathy before she left, how much my kids resented me for being away all the time. I can't do that to Liv, Alex. I held back for twelve years, I should never have slept with her, but I did. I've ruined everything, Alex, I want her but I care about her too much. It's not fair on her.'_

_'It's not fair to take that choice away from her,' replied Alex. 'Elliot, you have to let her decide if she wants you to be there or not.' _

_Right then Elliot hated her for being right. 'I know. But it's not that easy, Alex, however much I wish that it was.'_

_Alex started to say something, changed her mind, and pulled out one of Olivia's sonogram pictures. 'Here, Elliot, she was going to give you this right after the scan but didn't think you'd want it. Take it and think about it.' She pushed it into his hands and walked away._

'But you two were once very close, is that right?' asked MacBride.

'Yes,' said Elliot.

MacBride looked him in the eye. 'How close?'

Alex jumped up. 'Objection!'

'Sustained. Mr MacBride, get to where you're going.'

'We were very close,' replied Elliot.

'What exactly do you think she would have been willing to do for you? Buy your coffee? Give you a ride home? Take a bullet?'

'I don't know,' Elliot replied, gritting his teeth and trying his best not to lose his temper with this little turd of a lawyer. As if he didn't feel guilty enough already. He glanced at Olivia. She looked pained.

MacBride leaned in. 'Detective, would she be willing to lie for you?'

'OBJECTION, your Honour!'

'Mr MacBride...' Judge Mendell glared down at him.

'She wouldn't,' said Elliot. 'She's a good person. She'd do what was right, whatever anyone else told her to do.' He looked up at Olivia and smiled. She looked a little uncertain, then smiled back.

_**A/N: Sorry, updates might get a little sporadic for the next few weeks because I'm touring America on the Amtrak! If anyone has any suggestions about places worth going while I'm out there let me know, otherwise I'll just update as and when I get the chance!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

'Detective, your partner has revealed that the defendant had lowered his gun when you fired. Is that true?' MacBride had finally got to the point.

'Yes,' admitted Elliot. 'Yes, it is.'

'If he was no longer directly threatening you, Detective, why did you use your weapon against him?'

'I was protecting my partner,' replied Elliot.

'Detective, the defendant had lowered his gun.'

'He'd killed several women with his bare hands!' shouted Elliot. 'He was running towards her shouting his dead girlfriend's name! What was I supposed to do?'

'Use reasonable force, Detective Stabler,' replied MacBride. 'Is firing upon a man not threatening you with a firearm or any other weapon reasonable force?'

'She had a broken wrist,' said Elliot. 'He'd already pushed her down the basement steps. He was still carrying the weapon, and I didn't know when or if he would use it. I couldn't take that chance.'

'And there was no other way? Didn't you used to be in the US Marines, Detective? Surely you learned about the use of non-deadly force then.'

'I couldn't take the chance that he might hurt my partner,' repeated Elliot.

'Maybe you and your former partner got a little too close,' suggested MacBride, raising his eyebrow.

'Objection!' shouted Alex.

'Maybe,' said Elliot, 'but that doesn't have anything to do with what happened that day, or what she has had to say about it.'

'Doesn't it?'

'NO, it doesn't!' Elliot slammed his fist into the rim of the witness box before he could restrain himself.

'You appear to have quite a temper, Detective Stabler,' said MacBride smugly. 'Is that true?'

'Sometimes,' Elliot admitted reluctantly. 'But I would never have let it put Liv in danger.'

MacBride raised an eyebrow. 'Liv?'

Elliot blushed bright red. 'Detective Benson.'

'Ah. So, Detective, how do you explain the fact that 'Liv's' fingerprints were the only ones found on the second weapon recovered from the basement?'

'Like she said, in the chaos she picked it up without thinking.'

'That's a hell of a lapse in thought, isn't it?'

'Maybe, but she was unwell. She had been unwell all day.'

'What was wrong with her? TB? Smallpox? A cold? Women's troubles?'

'OBJECTION, your Honour, RELEVANCE!' shouted Alex.

'I am merely trying to establish what exactly could make an experienced detective suffer such an obvious lapse in judgement,' said MacBride.

'Well, then you're going about it the wrong way, counsellor,' snapped Judge Mendell. 'Move on, now.'

_'Moloney, put the weapon down, now!' _

_'You took Laura,' protested Moloney. 'Where is she?'_

_'Laura is dead, Mr Moloney, now put down the weapon and we can talk about this properly.'_

_'Laura's dead?' He looked stunned. 'Why? What did you do with her?' His face contorted with rage and he raised his voice to a deafening roar. 'Why would you hurt Laura?'_

_'We didn't, Mr Moloney. We didn't do anything with her,' said Olivia gently. Moloney looked confused. _

_'We didn't hurt Laura,' she repeated. 'She's dead, Mr Moloney. You were driving upstate to your parents' vacation cabin. An SUV crossed two lanes of traffic and hit you head-on. You spun out and were hit by a semi.'_

_'No, no, that's not possible,' Moloney insisted, sounding increasingly frantic._

_'The driver of the SUV was drunk, Mr Moloney. It wasn't your fault.'_

_'No!'_

_'The semi completely crushed the passenger side of the car. There was nothing you could have done.' Olivia smiled at him sympathetically and held out her hand. 'Please give me the gun, Matthew, and I can help you, I promise.'_

_'We'll take you to Laura, Mr Moloney,' interrupted Elliot. 'Give Detective Benson the weapon and we will take you to Laura.' Olivia looked at him and shook her head almost imperceptibly with a hint of disgust. Elliot ignored it. If it got the guy to drop the weapon, he'd promise him a thousand Lauras and a new Ferrari. 'Don't you want to see Laura, Mr Moloney? Don't you love Laura?'_

_Moloney began to weep. 'I do, I do love Laura, where is she, I need her...' He choked on a sob. 'Laura...'_

_'It's all right, Matthew, it's all right, I promise everything will be OK,' soothed Olivia. She shot Elliot a dirty look. She couldn't believe what he had just done._

_Moloney stood there for a few seconds just looking at her, then his face cleared. 'Laura?' He smiled broadly and slowly lowered the gun to his side._

_'No, I'm Olivia...' Olivia shot Elliot a look._

_He ignored her. 'Laura!' He ran towards her, raising his arms to reach out for her. 'Laura!'_

_Elliot shot him._

_Moloney's head flew back and he collapsed to the floor a few feet in front of Olivia. She turned to Elliot, her mouth and eyes wide with shock. Her face and shirt were covered in splatters of Moloney's blood. 'El, I...'_

_Elliot pushed past her and knelt beside Moloney. 'He's breathing, Liv, call a bus!'_

_Olivia stood there, staring at the blood covering her hands and shirt. Elliot suddenly saw her gun in her hands. 'Liv, the hell do you think you're doing?'_

_'He had my gun, El,' said Olivia. She sounded dazed. 'I let him take my gun. Why did I let him take my gun?'_

_'Liv, put it down and call a bus!'_

_Olivia just looked at him with her mouth open._

_'Oh, for God's sake-' Elliot pulled out his radio and called it in. 'Liv, put him in the recovery position, now.' He ran up the steps to wait for the medics. Olivia dropped her gun, sat down on the floor next to Moloney and turned him onto his side. Elliot glanced back at her as he left the basement. She was sitting rigidly upright and silently staring into space with tears running down her face._

'It was my fault,' said Elliot. 'She has PTSD. I knew that. She was in shock, and I didn't notice.'

'And what's your excuse for reacting the way you did, Detective Stabler?'

Elliot looked at MacBride, then at Olivia. 'I don't have one.'

**_A/N: Two more chapters to go of this guys, then that's it! All my stories are ending at once, it's so sad... and I really enjoyed this one too. I hope you did as well!_**


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N: So, we're onto the penultimate chapter here - one more to go and I'm afraid that's it! I hope you enjoy this one though, I personally think it's a good one (plus it has all the details I know a lot of you have been hanging in there for since the beginning...)_**

**CHAPTER 8**

Olivia sat on a bench in Foley Square, staring at the courthouse in front of her. Alex had said they were done, but she didn't much feel like going home yet. She rested a hand on her stomach and watched people walking by, all in a hurry to get somewhere. Across the street were some tourists posing in front of the courthouse steps.

'How far along are you now, 36 weeks?' Elliot sat down beside her and handed her a doughnut.

Olivia smiled. '37.' She took a massive bite.

'Wow.' There was a silence while they both tried to figure out what to say next.

'Alex showed me the sonogram picture,' Elliot said.

'She did?'

'Ha, yeah. She pretty much tore me a new one at the same time.'

Olivia laughed. 'Sounds like her.'

Elliot looked uncomfortable. 'Liv, I'm so sorry. I was stupid, and I wish I'd said this before, but... I understand if you want nothing to do with me. I understand if you don't ever want to see me again. But please, Liv, give me a chance to make it up to you.'

Olivia looked at him.

'Please, Liv,' said Elliot. 'Are we OK?'

Olivia shook her head. 'No.' She hauled back and punched Elliot hard in the face. 'You bastard.'

Elliot looked like he was about to cry. 'Olivia, I'm so sorry, all those things I said, I didn't mean them it was just the shock, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you or... or... the baby... and I've been carrying that picture around ever since Alex gave it to me and trying to think of a good way to apologise but I could never find a good time and I'm so sorry Liv, I really am-'

'You're still a bastard,' replied Olivia. 'But I understand.'

'You do?'

'Yes.'

'Thank God, Liv, I-'

'But you're going to have to spend the rest of your life making it up to me,' interrupted Olivia. 'Or I'll kick your miserable ass.'

Elliot nodded. 'That... seems fair. 'Is everything good, with... you know?'

'What, your as yet unnamed unborn child? Yes, everything's fine. I went to the doctor for my last check last week and he said it all looked good. He said I was 'big for my dates.' I'm not sure what that means. Fat, I think.' She smiled ruefully and finished off the doughnut.

Elliot smiled and pulled the sonogram picture out of his wallet. It was a little battered from having been carried around everywhere and folded and unfolded so many times, but she still recognised it immediately. 'What are you going to call her?'

'Her?' Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. 'I didn't think the picture was that detailed, El...'

'It's not, but Munch gossips like an old woman. Remember that time Cragen asked him to pick up that ointment from the store for him?'

Olivia laughed. 'Yeah, the entire station house knew about his rash before Don was even back from lunch!'

Elliot smiled and put his arm around her. 'So, what are you naming her?'

'I'm not really sure yet,' said Olivia. 'I was thinking maybe... Prudence?'

Elliot nearly choked. 'Prudence? You're serious? You're not serious? Liv?'

Olivia tried her best to keep a straight face.

'Prudence... I mean I don't hate it, but-'

'It's alright, El, I was joking.'

'Oh thank God... I didn't want to have to spend the rest of my life trying not to laugh whenever I had to say my daughter's name...'

'Our daughter.'

'What?'

'Our daughter, El.' Olivia leaned in and kissed him, then rested her head against his shoulder. 'What do you think of Natalie?'

'Who's Natalie?' asked Elliot, worried for a second that this was a trick question.

Olivia elbowed him in the ribs and laughed. 'For the baby, El.'

'Oh. Yeah, I like it.'

'Really?'

'Really. And it's definitely better than Prudence...' Elliot shuddered. He looked thoughtful, leant down and kissed the top of her head. 'I like it. Natalie... have you chosen a middle name?'

'No, El, I thought I'd ask you,' said Olivia. 'Seeing as she's partly your doing.'

'Well, to be fair, Liv, I think Munch deserves some of the credit for mixing that punch at Warner's birthday.'

'We are not naming our child after John Munch, Elliot,' said Olivia firmly. 'I'd sooner go with Prudence.'

'You know,' said Elliot, 'my grandmother was called Margaret.'

Olivia thought about it. 'Natalie Margaret Stabler. I like it.'

Elliot smiled and stroked her hair. 'Me too.'

_'Liv, I got you another glass of the punch,' said Elliot cheerfully. 'It's good, isn't it?'_

_'It's really good,' agreed Olivia. 'We should ask Munch how he made it.'_

_'You don't want to know, my pretties,' said Munch, waltzing past them on his way back to the buffet._

_'El, what exactly do you think goes on inside John's head?' whispered Olivia. Elliot's stomach turned over as her lips brushed against his ear and he felt her breath on his face._

_'I, uh, really don't know, Liv,' he replied, trying to think of something else. Lizards. Buses. Cauliflower. The homeless guy behind the precinct._

_'Whatcha thinking?' Olivia smiled up at him, one hand on his shoulder._

_'God, you're beautiful, Olivia,' blurted Elliot. Shit. That wasn't meant to come out._

_Olivia laughed. 'Well, you're quite pretty yourself, Detective!' She cracked up into hysterical giggles._

_'Elliot?' It was Fin._

_'Yeah, what's up?' asked Elliot, trying his best not to start laughing himself. Olivia was now leaning against the wall bent over in fits of laughter, punctuated by loud snorts._

_'We need more ice for the punch. Would you mind doing a run to the store across the street for it?'_

_'Uh, yeah, sure,' said Elliot, secretly relieved to get away. 'What kind?'_

_Fin gave him an odd look. 'Ice, Elliot. The cold, frozen kind.'_

_Elliot mentally kicked himself. What kind... he needed to give his brain a good kick up the-_

_'I'll come with you!' cried Olivia. _

_'No, Liv, it's fine,' said Elliot, and he left the room before she could reply. As he crossed the street to the convenience store he was psyching himself up for when he returned to the party. He'd managed to keep a lid on this for over a decade, he could do it for another night. Hell, maybe he should just buy another bag of ice to drop down his pants. He settled on an energy drink, trying to shake off the alcohol fug; Munch must have poured litres of the stuff into that punch. Probably trying to score with the new mailgirl, knowing him... he'd been putting the moves on her all night, and the scary thing was, it was working. Elliot wasn't sure exactly what magical elixir Munch had that seemingly made him irresistible, but he wanted to bathe in it._

_'El?' He looked up and saw Olivia waiting just inside the precinct doors. 'Thought I'd come and see how you were getting along with that ice.' She smiled._

_Elliot stopped and stared at her._

_'What is it, El?'_

_'Jesus, Liv,' said Elliot, dropping the bags of ice and pushing Olivia against the wall, burying his face in her neck._

_x-x-x-x-x-x  
><em>

_'Where the hell have you been?' asked Fin as they returned to the party. 'I didn't need magical ice from Alaska, Elliot, you could have gone to the store over the street-'_

_'Uh, sorry,' said Elliot, 'there was a queue. A long queue.'_

_Fin raised an eyebrow._

_'The ice melted!' said Olivia helpfully, holding up three bags full of very cold water._


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

'I can't believe I had to plead him out,' said Alex bitterly, taking another gulp of wine. 'Man 1, I could have had him for murder...'

'I'm sorry, Alex,' said Olivia. 'Sometimes the state does stuff that doesn't make sense.'

'It's that bastard MacBride is what it is,' snapped Alex. 'Elections are coming up and it's a lot easier to campaign without that publicity-hungry weasel kicking up a stink in the press-'

'Liv, can you take Nat for a minute?' Elliot walked into the room cradling Natalie against his shoulder. 'I have to call Cragen about the Union Square case and she keeps distracting me.'

'Elliot, she's two weeks old, how could she possibly be distracting you?' said Olivia. 'It's your fault for letting your mind wander!' She stood up and took the baby from him. 'Here, Nat, you want to go see Auntie Alex?'

'Probably not a good idea,' said Alex, draining the glass. 'This is my fifth wine this evening. I don't want to drop your child on its head.' She looked at Elliot. 'Probably because it'd turn out to be the last thing I ever did.'

'You're damn right it would,' muttered Elliot darkly.

'Seriously though, she's a darling,' said Alex. 'How on earth did you manage to produce something like her, Elliot?'

'Are you kidding me?' said Elliot. 'She's gorgeous, that's all Liv.' He bent down and kissed Olivia on the top of her head. 'I'm going to go to the bedroom to phone Cragen, OK?'

'Sure, El,' replied Olivia. 'Alex, are you sure you don't want to hold her? I'm sure you wouldn't drop her.'

Alex eyed Natalie. 'Well, maybe for a couple of minutes.' She smiled at Olivia. 'She is rather cute, you know.'

'I noticed.' Olivia cradled the baby in her arms and passed her to Alex. 'Just support her head, there, like that, and you'll do fine.'

_'She's lovely, Liv,' whispered Elliot, tucking her hair back behind her ear._

_'I know, right?' Olivia still couldn't quite believe they'd actually managed to create her. Natalie stretched out and fidgeted with the loose end of Olivia's hospital ID bracelet._

_'She looks like you,' he told her._

_'Really? I don't see it,' replied Olivia. 'I can see you around her eyes and mouth though.' She smiled at Elliot._

_'I think she looks a bit like my great uncle Milton,' said Munch, strolling in with a large bunch of flowers in hand. 'Hey, Elliot, she has your hairline!'_

_Elliot glared._

_'Wonderful timing as ever, John,' said Olivia. 'Where are the others?'_

_'They're just behind me,' replied Munch. 'They got held up when Alex had to stop and buy out the entire gift shop.' He paused. 'Seriously, there really is nothing left. You might want to clear out some of the furniture to make room.'_

_Olivia laughed. 'Hey, Nat, you want to say hi to your Uncle John?'_

_'I don't know, Liv, we don't want to scare her,' muttered Elliot._

_'Oh my GOD, Liv!' squealed Alex, rushing in carrying a huge gift basket and several flower arrangements. She dumped them into Munch's hands and leant down to stroke Natalie's head. 'She's so beautiful, Olivia...'_

_Olivia smiled. 'Thanks Alex, that means-'_

_'I am SO GLAD you guys got drunk at Warner's birthday and had sex!' Alex started making faces at the baby. Munch let out a snort and turned away. Olivia could see his shoulders shaking, and she was fairly sure he wasn't weeping with joy._

_'Thank you for that, uh, beautiful sentiment, Alex,' Elliot said slowly. 'We'll be sure to write it down to tell her on her eighteenth birthday.'_

_'Jeez, Alex, I've never seen anyone run so fast carrying that many flowers,' said Fin. 'You do know she's not going anywhere, right?'_

_'It's not my fault you couldn't keep up,' replied Alex. 'Look, Fin!'_

_'Yes, Alex, it's a baby,' said Fin. _

_'But this is... this is Natalie, Fin! Look at her! She looks just like Liv, don't you think?'_

_Munch muttered something about Natalie having dodged a bullet there. Elliot glared even more._

_Fin smiled. 'I know, Alex, she's Natalie. Congratulations, you guys.'_

_'Thanks, Fin,' said Elliot. 'And thank you, John, for mixing the punch. Me and Liv have decided that you are at least 25% responsible for Natalie's creation.'_

_'Only 25%, huh?' said Munch thoughtfully. _

_'Well, we also have to give credit to the bags of ice and to the ancient off-brand condom we found in Olivia's purse,' explained Elliot._

_'Even so, 25%, wow, you two must have been good to go already. Just needed an excuse, huh?' Munch cackled._

_'Eh, I don't know, I think we would have gotten there in the end.' Elliot smiled at Olivia and kissed her forehead. _

_Alex looked like she was about to cry. 'Awwww, you guys...' Suddenly she frowned and looked up in shock as the room was filled with the strains of Beethoven's Ninth._

_'Ah,' said Munch, pulling out his phone, 'that must be that cocktail waitress. Congrats, guys!' He flipped open his phone as he walked out the door. 'Hello, Serena? Yes, Sabrina, that's what I meant, bad line...' His voice faded away up the corridor._

_'How the hell does he do it?' said Elliot, shaking his head in disbelief._

_'I have no idea,' replied Fin. 'Maybe one day he'll tell us.'_

_'Unlikely,' said Elliot. 'But I'll tell you what, Liv, in 21 years there's no way we're letting him around Nat unsupervised.'_

_Olivia laughed. 'El, he'll be well into his seventies or eighties by then-'_

_'I don't care,' interrupted Elliot. 'That man has some kind of superpowers. Weird, skinny old man superpowers.'_

'You got it sorted with Cragen, El?' Olivia asked, looking up as he came back into the living room.

'Oh yeah, it's fine,' replied Elliot. He walked around the sofa, sat down next to Olivia and put his arm around her. 'How you doing there, Alex?'

'She's... amazing, Elliot,' said Alex.

Elliot smiled and kissed Olivia on the cheek. 'I know.'

**_A/N: That's all folks, thanks for all the reviews and if you liked it, tell me! I hope you all enjoyed it anyway. It was great fun to write._**


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